Residential transactions drop 5.7% but strong end-of-year continues
Residential property transactions have dropped 5.7% month-to-month according to the latest information published by HMRC. The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for November 2015 was 101,960 residential and 8,970 non-residential transactions. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of residential property transactions decreased by 5.7% between October 2015 and November 2015. However this […]
Andy Sommerville predicts Land Registry privatisation to be "abandoned for a second time"
The privatisation of the Land Registry will be abandoned for a second time according to Search Acumen’s Director, Andy Sommerville. Making predictions for 2016, Andy Sommerville sees the suggested privatisation of the Land Registry as a non-starter due to industry opposition as well as the risk it would put “all of the progress made to […]
Drop in housing stock driving prices higher as housebuilding target set to missed
A significant reduction in housing stock is continuing to drive increases in property prices according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) November Residential Market Survey. To make matters worse, according to Doug Crawford of My Home Move, just half of the promised 80,000 homes targeted for completion in 2016 will be built. The report […]
Top 1,000 conveyancers race ahead of the competition in Q3 2015
Search Acumen Conveyancing Market TrackerQ3 2015 edition Quarterly growth in transaction volumes among the top 1,000 ranking firms outpaced the rest of the market for the first time this year The five biggest firms lead the way with the biggest quarterly and annual growth Q3 proves the busiest of 2015 to date for total transaction […]
Fresh faces within the low to mid-range property market dominate and enhance activity
Following the release of the September data within the monthly HMRC UK Property Transaction Statistics report, the key elements that can be extracted are: On a seasonally adjusted basis there were 5.4% more transactions in September than a year ago The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for September 2015 was 106,030 residential, in […]
Sales growth picks up speed as solid demand begins to filter through
Agreed sales rise at the fastest rate since May 2014 Prices increase further across all parts of the UK New buyer demand continues to outweigh fresh instructions to sell The September 2015 RICS Residential Market Survey results indicate sales growth gathered a significant amount of momentum over the month, as strengthening demand finally appears to […]
Conveyancing Association All-Members Meeting marks significant step forward in leasehold improvement campaign
The Conveyancing Association (CA) last week hosted its third All-Members Meeting of 2015, where industry leaders met to discuss the CA’s campaign to extend the rights of those seeking to purchase a leasehold property and improve the process. The meeting, which took place in London on Thursday 1st October, saw the publication of a new […]
Conveyancing Association All-Members Meeting drives improvements to the leasehold process
The Conveyancing Association (CA) will this week host its third All-Members Meeting of 2015, bringing together government and industry leaders to discuss what can be done to improve leasehold transactions and give those purchasing leasehold properties greater rights. The roundtable event, which is due to take place in London on Thursday 1st October, will aim […]
End of summer sees property transactions blossoming
The HMRC Property Transactions report for August 2015 reveals: The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for August 2015 was 106,480 residential and 10,880 non-residential transactions. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of residential property transactions increased by 3.1% between July 2015 and August 2015. This month’s seasonally adjusted figure is 5.7% higher […]
Lack of new instructions continues to hold back sales growth
Prices rise at quickest pace in over 12 months New buyer enquiries continue to build at a solid rate Lack of new instructions still appear to be holding back sales growth The August 2015 RICS Residential Market Survey results point to a further acceleration in national house price inflation, again underpinned by the enduring mismatch […]
How has the Chinese stock market crash affected the residential property market?
Following the release of the Land Registry Market Trend Data for July 2015, property industry experts share their views on this month’s findings. Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments “Even though the Land Registry reports that transactions were noticeably down year-on-year between February and May, there has been a host of positive signs since […]
Steady demand growth and a lack of stock continue to drive prices higher
Buyer demand rises at the fastest pace since February 2014 Prices gain momentum for a sixth consecutive month Limited stock continues to act as a restraint on both transactions and new instructions The July 2015 RICS Residential Market Survey shows price momentum gaining pace, driven by a further rise in buyer demand while supply conditions […]
The Matterhorn Challenge has reaches the half way mark and the £25,000.00 target threshold
This week, the conveyancing industry Matterhorn Challenge reached the £25,000.00 fundraising threshold, which is halfway to the £50,000.00 target! The threshold was reached as a result of leading search providers, Search Acumen, taking up a Gold Matterhorn Sponsorship Package. Director of Search Acumen, Andy Sommerville, commented: “We are delighted to be supporting and sponsoring the […]
Property transactions reach a 15-month high
The latest HMRC property transaction data for June 2015 has been released and shows: The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for June 2015 was 104,590 residential and 10,460 non-residential transactions. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of residential property transactions increased by 4.7% between May 2015 and June 2015. This month’s seasonally adjusted […]
Demand sees further moderate rise while price momentum accelerates
Buyer enquiries increase moderately and across the majority of areas Price momentum continues to rise and expectations strengthen New instructions remain in short supply, with respondents seeing a slight fall over the month The June RICS Residential Market Survey shows a further acceleration in price growth with the headline price balance hitting an eleven month […]
Competition heats up as conveyancing transactions fall 16% in Q1 2015
Transactions fall faster than the number of active firms in the market Conveyancers work harder for business as average transactions per firm fall 14% Biggest firms feel the biggest short term impact, but the top five still account for 61% more transactions than three years ago Conveyancers face mounting pressure to maintain and grow their […]
Flood of testimonials for FCI Environmental Reports
Future Climate Info (FCI) provides a market leading suite of residential and commercial Environmental Reports on Contaminated Land, Flood, Ground Stability and Energy & Infrastructure for due diligence in conveyancing. Since launching the reports in July of last year, FCI has seen key industry names wholeheartedly adopt these new products, and support for our ground-breaking […]
April Transaction Data from Land Registry
Land Registry completes 1,363,565 applications South East tops the table of regional applications with 314,893 City of Westminster tops the table of local authority applications with 21,209 The Transaction Data shows Land Registry completed over 1,363,560 applications from its customers in April. This includes 1,325,062 applications by account customers, of which: 311,084 were applications in respect […]
Residential property vendors get cold feet
Supply of homes dwindles further, but demand remains steady Completed transaction levels stay relatively unchanged month on month The latest RICS Residential Market Survey report for March shows that, despite housing demand remaining relatively steady, the increase in price momentum prevails. This is allegedly comes as a result of limited property supply across the board […]
Recession survivors see conveyancing volumes hit a ten-year high
Mergers and exits leave the average firm handling more transactions than in 2007 Seven firms completed 6,000+ transactions last year; just one did the same ten years ago Top 200 firms achieved a collective 36% market share, up from 26% at the last peak 4,800 firms – 80% of the total – left to fight […]